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Marketingisamust Foranybusinesstoattaincustomersandgainprofits,marketingisamust, regardlessoftheindustryyourbusinessoperatesin.However,marketingis oneofthefewbusinessfunctionsthatcanbehighlydemandinginvarious aspects,especiallythebudget.Andifyoursisastartuporasmallbusiness, onanextremelytightbudget,thingsonlygetmorecomplicated.But,there is good news; marketing doesn’t necessarily have to cost you loads of money,botevenhundredsofdollars. Whether you own a startup company that’s just finding its grip in the industry,ortheownerofanestablishedbusinesslookingtocutdownon marketing costs, there are numerous ways you can market on a budget. Whenyouspendyourmoneywisely,eventheminimalamountyouhave will be able to bring to your business all the benefits of any traditional marketingplanorstrategy.Also,withtoday’sextremelycompetitivemarket and everyone trying to sell their products or services with alluring advertisements,itisimportantforbusinessownerstounderstandthateven asmallbudgetcanbringingreatresults. Hereare5moneysavingtipsformarketingonabudget:
EstablishaMarketingStrategy Havingasoundstrategyisextremelycrucialtomarketyourbusiness,even withashoestringbudget.Followingarethestepstobefollowedforthe same: Thefirststepistoidentifyandunderstandyourtargetaudience,forwhich youneedtoperformmarketresearch.Withalimitedbudget,yourbestbet istodosecondaryresearch,whichmeansusingmarketresearchdatathat havebeencollectedandrecordedbyothers. Next,youneedtoknowyourmarketpotential.Thisgivesyouanestimateof thedemandforyourproductsoveraspecifictimeframe. Comeupwithanideathatresonatesbestwithyourtargetmarket,and alwaysdeliveronthesame. 1 Once you have all of this done, have your marketing focus only on this customerbaseinordertopreventusingyouravailableresourcesverythinly thatyourcompanygoesunrecognized.
TakeAdvantageofSocialMedia Today,itisreallyhardtofindsomeonewhoisnotonatleastasinglesocial mediaplatform;therefore,socialmediaisoneofthebestwaystoattainthe best benefits off your marketing budget. There are a lot of ways you can market on social media: encourage your customers to follow and leave reviewsonyourcompany’ssocialmediapages,soanyonevisitingthepage canknowyourpositives;postcontentthatattractspeopletopurchasefrom you,andthiscanincludecontests,couponcodes,photosandvideosofnew products,andmore.Forthoseofyourbusinessesthatareimage-oriented, Instagramwouldbeanexcellentmarketingplatform. 2
MakeYourContentEngaging Contentmarketingisanexcellentlowcosttechniquethatcanbeusedby anybusiness;allyouneedtodoiscreateablogonyourcompany’swebsite andpublishcontentthatarenotonlyrelevanttoyourtargetaudience,but also engaging, entertaining, and of high quality. Since you can do this yourself and because publishing content can be done for free, you can makethebestuseofthistechniquetomarketyourproducts.Evenifyou are not a writer yourself, hiring a couple writers who can also edit and publishcontentwillcostyouonlymeager. Inadditiontocreatingnewcontent,alsothinkaboutrecyclingtheexisting content on your website. For instance, on those articles that contain researchorstatistics-relatedcontent,updatethesamewithnewstatistics onthetopicandre-publishthearticleonyourblog.Anothereffectiveoption is to create infographics using the data you have in your articles; people alwayslikeanythingvisual,therefore,thiswillbeagreatwaytoattractnew customersaswellaskeepyourexistingcustomersengaged. 3
StartaCustomerReferralProgram Oneothercost-effectivemarketingstrategythatcanbeimplementedby any business in any industry is asking for reviews and referrals from your satisfiedcustomers.Afterall,thereisnobetterwaytoattainaloyalcustomer base than word of mouth, and when your existing satisfied customers recommendyourcompany’snametopeopletheyknow,theirtrustinyour brandgrowsautomatically. Whenyouwantsomethingfromyourcustomers,youmustbereadyto givethemsomethinginreturn.Inthiscase,youneedtooffersomekindof reward when customers refer your business to someone. It could be a monetaryreward,say$10offontheirnextorder,oranythingthatyouknow willpleasethem. 4
EmailMarketingAlwaysWorks Email marketing has always been an underappreciated marketing technique;but,thefactisthat,itcandeliveramazingresultswhendone right, and is the perfect choice for those on a budget. This far-reaching marketingtechniquenotonlyhelpsyouattractnewcustomers,butalso stay in touch with your existing ones, making your relationships much stronger. From welcome emails to customer service content to sale/ discountseriestoabandonedcartemails,thereareplentyofwaysyoucan engageyourcustomerswith. Marketingisn’tsomethingthatwillemptyyourbank.Itcanmostcertainly bedonewithinyourbudgetwhileachievingtheresultsyouexpect. 5